This morning I was politely reminded of the need to accurately cite my sources when quoting from other articles…. If I had $17.50, I would purchase the Columbia Guide to Online Style as the MLA seems to be a bit archaic, but that is my opinion. From now on, I will (try my very best) to cite the site and author. I think that the link to the article itself should be sufficient for citing the date of publication, but understand the other side of the argument.
Date Archives September 2005
Quote of the Day
Referencing Old Trail in Crozet -“No plan is perfect, but it’s probably the best plan I’ve seen,†Supervisor Dennis S. Rooker said. When a citizen addressed the familiar concern that the Crozet area and the 250 Bypass will sprawl and become the next Route 29N or Pantops, Rooker responded, “Houses don’t create people. They’ll come whether or not the houses are here.â€â€” courtesy of this week’s C-Ville.If they don’t build the houses, where would they live?
Bubble editorial, etc.
Here’s why: While house prices over the last decade have gone through the roof, the annual cost of owning a house has not.This is an excellent editorial that takes to time to explain some of the basic fundamentals of the “bubble.” I believe that there is certainly room for a decrease in the local market’s rapid rate of appreciation. From Rismedia – In a study covering 46 single-family housing markets from 1980 to 2004, Charles Himmelberg, Christopher Mayer (Columbia Business School), and Todd Sinai (Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania) confront misperceptions about the underlying drivers behind the decade-old real estate boom. The researchers find that recent growth rates of house prices do not reflect a bubble — and, in fact, are largely explained by basic economic fundamentals such as low interest rates, strong income growth among high- income Americans, and unusually low housing prices in the mid-1990s.I think that the market’s future remains in the middle.
Efficient email
Between twenty to thirty percent of my business comes from the web, and most of the rest is personally-generated business.One of the downsides of sending so much email is finding ways to best organize it…. 43Folders is a great site with loads of useful tips for making one’s life a bit more efficient.You can make it even easier for your recipient to immediately understand why you’ve sent them an email and to quickly determine what kind of response or action it requires. Compose a great “Subject:†line that hits the high points or summarizes the thrust of the message. Avoid “Hi,†“One more thing…,†or “FYI,†in favor of typing a short summary of the most important points in the message:Typically, I put the transaction name in the title of the subject and the actual subject of the email.
Get ready for winter
Energy un-efficient homes.With soaring oil and natural gas costs, people will be under mounting pressure to make buildings more energy-efficient, especially as the weather turns colder and higher home heating bills arrive…. Big-ticket items like new windows and doors, or adding more insulation to your attic and walls, can cost thousands of dollars. Not only that, it’ll take 15 or more years — longer than most people own their homes — to see much return from lower energy costs…. Hopefully this will provide the impetus needed for private industry to exercise its innovation and develop alternative fuels and more efficient and economically feasible houses.
Transportation discussion
Don’t tax you don’t tax me, tax the guy behind the tree.Succinct summary of the discussion regarding transportation woes around the state. We all want something done, but very few are willing to pay for any improvements. We need leaders who are willing to do the right thing, whatever that may be. I like the Road to Ruin, and this discussion is one of the reasons.This is an informative APF link from the above discussion that may have some significance to our region in the near future.Everybody agrees that traffic is no fun, but so long as it’s “not as bad as in Northern VA, Richmond …